Never look back
I don’t understand some of the calls for there to be an Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version of Batman: Arkham Knight? Surely if developers have to constantly concern themselves with getting their game to run on old hardware we’ll never have games that take advantage of the extra horsepower of the new consoles? We’ll be stuck with titles such as Assassin’s Creed IV that look a bit nicer and have a steadier frame rate but do nothing to push the new machines.

I’d have been disappointed if the new Batman had been announced for the previous gen as this would limit what the developers could do. I would have thought Sony and Microsoft are also pushing for games to only come out on their new consoles as this is the only way to drive sales by having games that simply aren’t possible on the out going machines.

I don’t remember with previous generations there being calls to have Tomb Raider running on the Mega Drive, Super Mario 64 on the Super Nintendo, or Grand Theft Auto III on the first PlayStation?PE

Mystery prize
Bit of an odd one here. Our TV got left on Challenge TV and Wheel of Fortune was on. One of the spot prizes was referred to as a ‘custom built arcade game’. It looked like a steel briefcase, like you see in movies with money or precious stones in, or a bomb.

It was only on screen for a moment and I’d never seen anything like it before. Do you or a reader have any idea what it could be? The show was from 1988 I saw in the credits.half_empty80 (PSN ID)

GC: 1988? We’re not sure what that could’ve been. Companies make replica arcade cabinets nowadays, but we don’t remember that happening in the ’80s. How mysterious.

Launch subscription
Reading Deashes’ letter about console contracts it got me thinking whether it would be a good idea or not. Like he said Microsoft and Sony, even Nintendo, would benefit as more consoles would be sold on the contract. The downside would be early trade-ins. Take Xbox One for example; the first two major titles were Forza Motorsport 5 and Dead Rising 3.

If Titanfall had suddenly been delayed from March to May some fans might have nothing to play until it was released, therefore the console might be sat unused for a couple of months. If they then decided to trade it in for a PlayStation 4 chances are they wouldn’t be able to cancel the previous contract.GOLD HYPERSHADOW (gamertag)

A lot of variance
RE: Jonny c. Just to reply to his comments about my last Inbox letter, no offence meant Jonny. When I said most players prefer playing online, maybe I should have rephrased it to ‘a lot of players would like to be given the chance to play or not to play online without it costing them money like the PlayStation 3′. I see how my comment might have been taken wrongly.

I do play a lot of games in single-player, mostly my retro consoles, i.e. GameCube, PlayStation 2, etc. I’ve never really made any more contribution to the Underbox since Xmas 2012 when it all changed and we had to sign in with different IDSs which was to much hassle for me. So for all those in the Underbox that still remember me, thanks. From me, Paul, and my cat BON.Cosmic250 (PSN ID/NN ID/Steam ID)

Late kick-off
With regards to Football Manager on the PS Vita. I’ve just read that Football Manager 2014 Classic will be arriving on the PlayStation Vita in April, with more details to come next week. This was confirmed by Miles Jacobson on Twitter. I’ve been looking forward to this game for ages, as I loved the main game on the Mac, but due to fatherhood my gaming time is pretty limited, which means that the simplified Vita version will be perfect for me.

It’s a bit disappointing that it’s coming out so close to the end of the season, and there are gamers already moaning that the player rosters will be outdated within a few weeks when the transfer market swings back into life. But if you want a portable football management game with a 3D match engine, then the Vita version looks like the one to get.Cubes (PSN ID)/Cubes73 (NN ID/Steam ID/Raptr ID)/Kevin M

Another U-turn
With the allure of Titanfall gnawing away at me, and my growing apathy towards modern military shooters, I’ve only gone and done it – I bought a Xbox One! After writing two features about why I felt Sony would win the next gen, you could say my actions are in-keeping with Microsoft’s many U-turns. Not that my perception has been altered of course, it’s still Sony’s to lose.

Having now spent some time with Xbox One, I’m even more mystified how badly Microsoft marketed their product. It’s a very good console, surprisingly so given all the bad press. It’s well documented how the PlayStation 4 bests the Xbox in processing terms, but as an overall experience, I know which console currently feels more next gen. The all-in-one multimedia hub hasn’t quite lived up to the hype as yet, but then the more straightforward, gamer-centric PlayStation 4 isn’t the finished article either.

Even my main bugbear Kinect hasn’t annoyed me too often, though it still won’t recognise the voice of my perfectly spoken six-year-old daughter. That’s a relief actually, the amount of commands she keeps throwing at the damn thing.

Titanfall could very well turn out to be a system seller, but given how Microsoft have seemingly done everything in their power to alienate gamers, it’s a minor miracle they’ve accumulated the sales they have.

I concede the only real surprise in this whole debacle is it’s taken me four months to buckle – the swines almost had me at Dead Rising 3. I do not condone my actions I might add; Microsoft are still the devil incarnate, as Sony were before them, and as for Nintendo, they still hate Europe right?Up4Banter

Only in America
On the Sony blog last month they claimed that Monster Hunter Freedom Unite will be available for free this month on PS Vita (March).

But it’s not Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. At least not on my Vita? Instead I have PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD, which is an absolutely awful game.

I’m really not happy. Specially after they announced that it would be Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for March. Is there Monster Hunter Freedom Unite available for free on this month’s PlayStation Plus members or have they made a mistake?mbritton77

GC: That link is for the US PlayStation Blog. The European one states it’s PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate HD (which we actually like quite a bit) and Smart As.

You can’t please everyone
After more or less six months of enjoyment I’ve finally grown tired of Grand Theft Auto V. Dipping into my backlog I’ve started playing GRID 2 and The Last Of Us. I’m really getting into GRID 2, I like the handling and the tracks have plenty of variety and I’m finding it much more enjoyable than Need For Speed: Most Wanted, which was the last racing game I played.

The big surprise for me though is The Last Of Us. After all the Inbox love and critical reception it got I was expecting a lot from this game. After playing as far as the first encounters with Robert’s hired goons I have to say I really dislike this game. People have been complaining about the shooting mechanics in GTA V but I find the aiming and gunplay in The Last Of Us a misery.

I know it’s a survival horror but I was expecting the gunplay to be at least as competent as the Uncharted series. I don’t know what’s coming out for PlayStation 3 over the next few months (I’m not buying Dark Souls II) but as soon as there is a release I like the look of I’ll be trading The Last Of Us in for it.

My expectations for The Last Of Us were obviously too high, but I am wondering if any other readers feel this game just don’t live up too its hype?Mitchell

GC: We don’t remember anyone complaining about the gunplay before, especially as most would consider that the weakest element of Uncharted – and a significant improvement in The Last Of Us.

Fair comment
What is wrong with you lot populating the Inbox? There’s constructive criticism and then there’s complaining over nothing. ‘Why is the Arkham Knight trailer pre-rendered?’ Because it’s an announcement and a very stylish one at that.

‘Why aren’t there any in-game renders after such a long time in development?’ There are, do some research.

‘I’ve always found pre-render trailers naff. I can’t believe people still get excited by some cobbled together sequence that fundamentally plays no part in the actual product’. I loved it and from the buzz around the Internet lots of others do too. It’s a talking point to generate interest for the latest entry in one of the most successful franchises in gaming, that’s why GC have had two stories and four Inboxes on Arkham Knight in only a few days. Nobody is foolish enough to think this is gameplay but this trailer is enough for me to (Bat)cave and buy a PlayStation 4 for this game.

Come on people, it doesn’t take the world’s greatest detective to answer these questions, most have the same answer; Game Informer have the world exclusive on Arkham Knight and are constantly updating their website with new information, screens and eventually gameplay footage. The good people at GC will also relay this info as they get it.

Let’s try and enjoy this, possibly the last Batman game Rocksteady make and hopefully a grand finale to their story.Beastiebat (PSN ID)

GC: The reason any trailer is pre-rendered is to have graphics that are better than the actual game. Plenty of people mistake it for real gameplay, which is why publishers aren’t allowed to show them on TV any more without a warning. You’re being overly defensive about some perfectly reasonable comments.

Inbox also-rans
Just like to wish GC and all its readers a happy Mar10 day!Paulvw (PSN ID/NN ID/Steam ID)

In regards to bigbadman’s headset problem. I’ve had the problem of my mic not working when plugged in and it was simply an issue if batteries. The Xbox controller stops the headphones working before the controller dies so out in new batteries and it should work fine.DAN jmk (gamertag)

Just to let HotstuffFred know that you don’t need a SIM for your 3G PS Vita. Your home screen says ‘no SIM” at top left where your 3G signal into would be and…. well, that’s it. OK. I’m off back down my TxK-hole.dflips

This week’s Hot Topic
With Titanfall and Dark Souls II making this the biggest week for new releases so far this year the subject for this weekend’s Inbox asks you what you think about about video game marketing and hype.

Are you planning to buy either game and how long have you been interested in them? With these games, and others in general, is it usually online and magazine previews that turn you onto them – or is it publisher marketing? Once you’ve become excited about a game do you have trouble accepting negative previews and news about it?

How much do you think you’re influenced by marketing and do you think the hype for some games can be counter-productive, even if you’re already interested in the game? What’s the most disappointed you’ve been by a heavily hype game and which marketing campaign do you think was the most deceptive?